An Interview with Astronaut - Charlie Duke
On the 20th November 2009, former NASA Astronaut Charlie Duke, one of 12 people to ever walk on the Moon, visited the National Space Centre. We were lucky enough to ask him a few questions about his trip to the Moon… Charlie Duke Interview: Charlie Duke was born in Charlotte, NC, in 1935. Duke attended the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Following graduation, he was commissioned into the U.S. Air Force, and thus began a life-long love of flying. Over the years as fighter pilot, test pilot, and then encouraged by his commandant to become an Apollo astronaut, this love of adventure grew to the pinnacle of achievement when on April 20, 1972, he, along with John Young, landed on the surface of the Moon. Their stay on the Moon was a record-setting 71 hours and 14 minutes. We had the great pleasure to have Charlie Duke visit the National Space Centre recently, and we asked him the following questions:
What training did you have to do prior to your mission?
Well the training for us was split into three categories. The most important was learning how to fly, so we had a simulator, which simulated the real space craft. So we practiced landing and rendezvous and lift off over and over again, we were so familiar with it, after two years I had over 2000 hours in the simulator. Then the other was the lunar surface activity we had to practice so that every time we stopped at a geological station on the Moon we knew what to do and what to look for. The final stage was being taught to do geology so we could pick up the correct rocks: we did the equivalent of a Masters degree in geology.
What was it like on the Moon?
It was very, very exciting I was like a little boy on holiday just the wonder of it all the excitement and thinking here I am on the Moon with a beautiful moonscape surface and the contrast between that and the blackness of space it was an awesome experience but we felt right at home, it was an exciting three days for us.
What food did you eat on your trip?
Most of Apollo was dehydrated or freeze dried so we had to add water to it. On the way to the Moon we had a real balanced diet we had hot water in the Command Module so we could have hot soup, vegetables, spaghetti and coffee. We had cold water so we could have cold drinks.
On the Moon we had only cold water so for three days on the Moon all the food we ate was cold. But we were so excited to be on the Moon we could have eaten peanut butter sandwiches and it wouldn’t have mattered! But there was a variety of food we could choose from and a balanced diet.
How did your previous involvements in other Apollo missions help you in your own mission?
Well the one that prepared me completely was Apollo 13 where I was in the back up crew. The back up crew train in parallel to the primary crew who will fly the mission. The notion is that if they get sick or have an accident we take their place. So we trained right in parallel, so we were ready to go. You learn all of the operations as the back up crew first and then rotate to the primary crew so you become the one that’s going to fly.
On the other side of the equation was Mission Control: the other part of the team and it takes the whole team to make it all work. I worked in Mission Control for Apollo 10 and Apollo 11 so I learned what their particular duties were, how they trained and how they over came problems. That gave me a different perspective on how the team worked and to trust them to find solutions to any problems that might come up.
On the 20th November 2009, former NASA Astronaut Charlie Duke, one of 12 people to ever walk on the Moon, visited the National Space Centre. We were lucky enough to ask him a few questions about his trip to the Moon… Charlie Duke Interview: Charlie Duke was born in Charlotte, NC, in 1935. Duke attended the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Following graduation, he was commissioned into the U.S. Air Force, and thus began a life-long love of flying. Over the years as fighter pilot, test pilot, and then encouraged by his commandant to become an Apollo astronaut, this love of adventure grew to the pinnacle of achievement when on April 20, 1972, he, along with John Young, landed on the surface of the Moon. Their stay on the Moon was a record-setting 71 hours and 14 minutes. We had the great pleasure to have Charlie Duke visit the National Space Centre recently, and we asked him the following questions:
What training did you have to do prior to your mission?
Well the training for us was split into three categories. The most important was learning how to fly, so we had a simulator, which simulated the real space craft. So we practiced landing and rendezvous and lift off over and over again, we were so familiar with it, after two years I had over 2000 hours in the simulator. Then the other was the lunar surface activity we had to practice so that every time we stopped at a geological station on the Moon we knew what to do and what to look for. The final stage was being taught to do geology so we could pick up the correct rocks: we did the equivalent of a Masters degree in geology.
What was it like on the Moon?
It was very, very exciting I was like a little boy on holiday just the wonder of it all the excitement and thinking here I am on the Moon with a beautiful moonscape surface and the contrast between that and the blackness of space it was an awesome experience but we felt right at home, it was an exciting three days for us.
What food did you eat on your trip?
Most of Apollo was dehydrated or freeze dried so we had to add water to it. On the way to the Moon we had a real balanced diet we had hot water in the Command Module so we could have hot soup, vegetables, spaghetti and coffee. We had cold water so we could have cold drinks.
On the Moon we had only cold water so for three days on the Moon all the food we ate was cold. But we were so excited to be on the Moon we could have eaten peanut butter sandwiches and it wouldn’t have mattered! But there was a variety of food we could choose from and a balanced diet.
How did your previous involvements in other Apollo missions help you in your own mission?
Well the one that prepared me completely was Apollo 13 where I was in the back up crew. The back up crew train in parallel to the primary crew who will fly the mission. The notion is that if they get sick or have an accident we take their place. So we trained right in parallel, so we were ready to go. You learn all of the operations as the back up crew first and then rotate to the primary crew so you become the one that’s going to fly.
On the other side of the equation was Mission Control: the other part of the team and it takes the whole team to make it all work. I worked in Mission Control for Apollo 10 and Apollo 11 so I learned what their particular duties were, how they trained and how they over came problems. That gave me a different perspective on how the team worked and to trust them to find solutions to any problems that might come up.